#MyStartupStory #day7: My Why

For most of my life I have struggled with social anxiety and clinical depression. Because it’s something that I’ve had to live with for as long as I can remember, I’ve learned how to survive through it… I’ve also learned that it’s something where the environment that I’m in has a huge affect on how I am mentally each day.

The corporate environment was always one that I struggled with – because it could be extremely hectic, emotional and political, and these were areas where if I could feel any kind of conflict, my anxiety would shoot through the roof. The conflict may not even have been something I was involved in, but if it was going on in my environment, I felt it acutely. It would leave me unable to focus on my work at the best of times – at the worst, I would need to retreat to the bathroom in tears in order to prevent a panic attack.

There were some days that were an absolute fight to push myself outside of my apartment. There were some days where I didn’t make it out the front door. There were days where I didn’t make it through an entire day at work. And there were a lot of days where I wasn’t able to produce my best work because of where I was mentally.

(Side note – I really wish the corporate environment could be more mental health friendly.)

But whenever I was able to work from home, I accomplished more… and what I did produce was more in line with what was needed to further the company that I was working with at that time. I was able to focus better, and that in turn allowed me to better pay attention to the small details in the website or graphic design that I was working on.

So, my “why” for creating my own business – because while I can survive the corporate environment, I don’t thrive in it. Because when I control my own environment, I can better create. Because when I can better create, I can better focus on helping other businesses reach their goals.